Rupert Wainwright
Stigmate

Halfway between the fantastic, the thriller, and the horror, this "Stigmate" released in 1999 tackles the much-discussed and controversial subject of stigmata. It talks about it much more tangibly indirectly but does not investigate the phenomenon itself.

Directed by Rupert Wainwright, the film takes inspiration from the wounds of Christ to weave a quite improbable story of religion and the paranormal. The director, starting from a somewhat original idea, steers the film closer to a fantasy genre than a religious thriller. In this scenario, a strong contrast will be created between the church and science, between belief and disbelief.

Frankie (Patricia Arquette) is a hairdresser who receives a rosary from her mother as a gift. But being a non-believer, she gives little importance to the maternal gift. She will gradually fall into a continuous spiral of suffering and pain and will be helped by Father Andrew (Gabriel Byrne), a former scientist now a Vatican investigator.

Among various contaminations and an endless mix of genres, this Stigmate leaves you puzzled by the theses it tries to develop and then leaves halfway. On the one hand, the director wants to point out the existence of other gospels, like that of Thomas, and wants to "enlighten" us on the relationship between church and science, but in the end, we are forced to witness comedic scenes like the final one similar to The Exorcist. Controversial themes (which will later be used as a model by Dan Brown for his books) are approached with a superficiality that harms the film's credibility. A film depicting the church willing to do anything to conceal the truth: it's true that this has happened in the past, but the figure of the "tyrannical" cardinal seems sincerely forced and out of place. To counterbalance the unnecessary or wrong fundamental choices, there are certainly fascinating scenes: the sequences where the unfortunate Frankie must endure the various tortures also suffered by Christ are certainly well realized and rescue a very pretentious film.

To crown a series of improbable decisions, finally comes the amorous attraction between the priest and the protagonist. It must be said that the Vatican investigator during the various adventures will see his faith waver, and his scientific spirit will re-emerge in him. It still seems quite comical as a choice, especially for a screenplay that loses the charm of scientific and religious inquiry initially addressed.

One of the few positive notes of Wainwright's film is Patricia Arquette. The American, left to her own devices, manages alone to keep the film's fate high, while the other actors seem quite bland and lack pathos.

"Stigmate" thus results in a morally engaged and pretentious film that resolves with underlying confusion primarily due to the lack of directorial devices capable of arousing interest in the viewer. The ideas are there, the technique is also there, but everything is developed in a way that turns out to be very superficial...